Indian Palaeography from about B.C. 350 to about A.D. 1300 c7.s10: § 15. — The varieties of the Brāhmī and Drāviḍī in Plates II. and III
Indian Palaeography from about B.C. 350 to about A.D. 1300 c7.s10
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§ 15. — The varieties of the Brāhmī and Drāviḍī in Plates II. and III
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⁶ Preparation of the Plates:— Plate II. Col. I; drawn according to a caste of the Eraṇ coin; compare C.CAI. pl. 11, No. 18: *A* from Patnā seal, C.*ASR.* 15, pl. 2. Cols. II, III; cuttings from facsimile of Kālsī, *EI.* 2, 447 ff. Cols. IV, V; cuttings from facsimile of Delhi-Sivālik, *IA.* 13, 306 ff. Cols. VI, VII; cuttings from facsimiles of Jaugada, B.*ASRSI.* 1, pl. 67, 68, 69: 20, VI, from Radhia, *EI.* 2, 245 ff.; and 44, VII, drawn according to impression of Sahasrām. Cols. VIII—X; cuttings from facsimiles of Girnār, EI. 2, 447 ff.: 31, *ra*, between VII, VIII, from Rūpnāth, IA. 6, 156. Cols. XI, XII: cuttings from facsimiles of Siddāpura, *EI.* 3, 134 ff.: 44, XII, drawn according to impression of Bairāt, No. 1; 45, XI, according to facsimile of Bharahut, *ZDMG.* 40, 58 ff. Cols. XIII—XV; cuttings from facsimiles in EI. 2, 323 ff. Col. XVI; traced from the facsimile in J.*ASB.* 56, 77, pl. 5 *a*. Col. XVII; cuttings from facsimile in *IA.* 20, 361 ff. Col. XVIII; traced from the facsimile in *IA.* 14, 139: 6 from facsimile of Bharahut, No. 98, *ZDMG.* 40, 58: and 41 from impression of Sāñci Stūpa I, No. 199. Col. XIX; cuttings from facsimile in *EI.* 2, 240 ff. Col. XX; cuttings from facsimiles in EI. 1, 396, No. 33, and *EI.* 2, 195, No. 1. Cols. XXI, XXII; drawn according to Cunningham's photograph of the Hāthīgumphā inscription of Khāravela. Cols. XXIII, XXIV; cuttings from facsimiles in B.*ASRWI.* 5, pl. 51, Nos. 1, 2. Plate III. Cols. I, II; cuttings from facsimiles in *EI.* 2, 199, Nos. 2 and 5, and Cunningham's photograph of the Mora well inscription: compare C.*ASR.* 20, pl. 5, No. 4. — (Note continued on the next page.)
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Plates II. and III. show the following fifteen scripts of the first period: —
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(1) The variety of the Eraṇ coin, running from the right to the left (pl. II, col. I), which probably dates from the 4th century B. C.
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(2) The older Maurya alphabet of the Aśoka edicts¹ (pl. II, cols. II—XII), which occurs also with local variations on the Persian sigloi² and the old coins from Taxila, &c.,³ in the majority of the inscriptions on the Bharahut Stūpa (pl. II, 6, XVIII; 45, XI), in Gayā,⁴ Sāñci,⁵ and Parkham,⁶ on the Patnā seals, on the Sohgaura copper-plate,⁷ and on the stone of Ghasundi or Nagarī (pl. II, col. XVI), and probably prevailed at least in the latter half of the 4th and in the 3rd century B. C.
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¹ Compare the following trustworthy facsimiles of Aśoka edicts not mentioned in note 6 on page 31 above: — *B. ASRWI.* 2, 98 ff., Girnār; *IA.* 13, 306 ff., Allahabad; *IA.* 19, 122 ff., Delhi-Mirat, Allahabad Queen's edict, Allahabad Kosambi edict; *IA.* 20, 334, Barābar caves; *IA.* 22, 299, Sahasrām and Rūpnāth; *EI.* 2, 245 ff., Mathia and Rāmpūrvā; *EI.* 2, 363, Sāñci; *JA.* 1887, I, 498, Bairāt No. I; and the table of letters in *B. ASRWI.* 4, pl. 5.
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² *J. RAS.* 1895, 865 (pl.).
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³ *C. CAI.* pl. 2, 3; pl. 8, No. 1; pl. 10, No. 20.
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⁴ *C. MG.* pl. 10, Nos. 2, 3.
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⁵ Facsimiles in *EI.* 2, 366 ff.
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⁶ *C. ASR.* 20, pl. 6.
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⁷ *Proc. ASB.* May-June, 1894, pl. 1.
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(3) The Drāviḍī of Bhaṭṭiprolu (pl. II, cols. XIII—XV), which is connected with the southern variety of the Maurya type, but includes many very archaic signs; about B. C. 200.
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(4) The later Maurya alphabet of Daśaratha's inscription (pl. II, col. XVII), closely related to the characters on the coins of the Indo-Grecian kings Agathocles and Pantaleon;⁸ about B. C. 200 to 180.
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⁸ P. GARDNER, *Cat. of Ind. Coins Br. Mus.*, pls. 3, 4.
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(5) The Śuṅga alphabet of the Torana of Bharahut (pl. II, col. XVIII), which agrees with that of the Pabhosa inscriptions (pl. II, col. XIX), of the later votive inscriptions on the rails of the Bharahut and Sāñci Stūpas,⁹ of the oldest Mathurā inscriptions¹⁰ (pl. II, col. XX), of the Rīwā inscription,¹¹ and so forth;¹² 2nd to 1st centuries B. C.
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⁹ Pl. in *ZDMG.* 40, 58 ff.; *EI.* 2, 363 (facsimiles of Stūpa I, Nos. 288, 377, 378).
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¹⁰ Compare plate in *Sixth Oriental Congress*, 3, 2, 142.
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¹¹ *IA.* 9, 121.
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¹² Compare also *C. CAI.* pl. 4, Nos. 8—15; pl. 5; pl. 8, No. 2 ff.; pl. 9, Nos. 1—5; *C. MG.* pl. 10, No. 4; *B. ASRWI.* 4, pl. 44, Bhājā, Nos. 1—6, Koṇḍāṇe.
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(6) The older Kaliṅga alphabet of the Kaṭak (Hāthigumphā) caves (pl. II, cols. XXI, XXII); about B. C. 150.
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(7) The archaic alphabet of the western Dekhan in the Nānāghāt inscription (pl. II, cols. XXIII, XXIV), which is found also in Nāsik No. 1, in Pitalkhorā, and in Ajaṇṭā Nos. 1, 2;¹³ from about B. C. 150 to the 1st century A. D.
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¹³ *B. ASRWI.* 4, pl. 44, Pitalkhorā, Nos. 1—7; pl. 51, Nāsik, No. 1.
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(8, 9) The precursors of the later northern alphabets, the alphabet of the inscriptions of the Northern Kṣatrapa Śoḍāsa and of the archaic votive inscriptions from Mathurā (pl. III, cols. I, II), 1st century B. C. to 1st century A. D. (?), and the Kuṣana alphabet of the reigns of Kaniṣka, Huviṣka and Vāsudeva (pl. III, cols. III—V), 1st and 2nd (?) centuries A. D.
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(10—15) The precursors of the later southern alphabets, the alphabet of Kāṭhiāvāḍ from the time of the Western Kṣatrapa Rudradāman (pl. III, col. VI), about A. D. 150; the archaistic type of the western Dekhan from the time of the Kṣatrapa Nahapāna (pl. III, col. VII), beginning of the 2nd century A. D. (?); the more modern-looking alphabet of the same district (occasionally with only faint traces of southern peculiarities) from the time of Nahapāna (pl. III, cols. VIII, IX), of the Andhra king Gotamīputa Sātakaṇi (col. X), of the Andhra king Puḷumāyi (col. XI), of the Andhra king Gotamīputa Siriyaña Sātakaṇi (col. XII), of Nāsik No. 20 (col. XIII), and of the Ābhīra king Īśvarasena (col. XIV), 2nd century A. D.;
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Cols. III—V; cuttings from facsimiles of dated Kuṣana inscriptions in *EI.* 1, 371 ff., and 2, 195 ff.
Col. VI; drawn according to facsimile in *B. ASRWI.* 2, 128, pl. 14.
Cols. VII—XVI; cuttings from facsimiles in *B. ASRWI.* 4, pl. 51, No. 19; pl. 52, Nos. 5, 9, 10, 18, 19; pl. 53, Nos. 13, 14; pl. 55, No. 22; pl. 48, No. 3; and tracings for col. XV, from pl. 45, Nos. 5, 6, 11.
Cols. XVII, XVIII; cuttings from facsimiles in *B. ASRSI.* 1, pl. 62, 63.
Cols. XIX, XX; cuttings from facsimile in *EI.* 1, 1 ff.
The backgrounds of all the cuttings, and indistinct strokes, have been touched up.
Scale of Plate II. = 0·5 of the cuttings; except 13, II, and the signs in cols. VI, VII, XXIII, XXIV, which have the same size as in the facsimiles. Scale of Plate III. = 0·7.
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the ornamental variety of the same district with more fully developed southern peculiarities, from the Kuḍā and [33] Junnar inscriptions (cols. XV, XVI), 2nd century A. D.; the highly ornamental variety of the eastern Dekhan from Jaggayyapẹṭa (cols. XVII, XVIII), 3rd century A. D. (?); and the ancient cursive alphabet of the Prākrit grant of the Pallava king Sivaskandavarman (cols. XIX, XX), 4th century A. D. (?).